Unfortunatly it is the current situation... i was expecting changes in the last year, at least another fork along the road but it never came.
The good thing is that Steem has a promising future so... powering up can be looked at as a solid investment option.
You are right and Steemit is just one of the legs Steem can stand on. I also think powering up is a good investment for sure, and maybe people have to realize that the easy earned money is gone and powering up might be necessary to get a piece of the pie